


The Morning After - 다음날 아침

by hicstans



Series: The new family [3]
Category: The Avengers (2012), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Avengers'hangover, Fury is better father than odin, M/M, Odin is idiot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-10-08
Updated: 2012-10-08
Packaged: 2017-11-15 21:22:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,862
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/531859
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hicstans/pseuds/hicstans
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The morning after [The Way Home]. An unwelcome visitor comes to the hungover Avengers.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Morning After - 다음날 아침

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [다음날 아침](https://archiveofourown.org/works/464293) by [hicstans](https://archiveofourown.org/users/hicstans/pseuds/hicstans). 



> According to the myths, from the throne of Odin (Hlidskjalf) you can look over all the nine realms. Loki watches Thor fight the Destroyer without using a magical eye or a mirror or any other seeing device from the throne in the movie, too.
> 
> Another note, Heimdall has golden teeth according to the myths.

 

********  
  


Steve opened his eyes.

If there were advantages to being a super-soldier, it was that he doesn’t get drunk, and even if he does get a bit drunk thanks to his colleagues’ plot he would wake up without a hangover.

Even so, his head ached the moment he opened his eyes; so he lifted his head very carefully. All around the living room where they partied, the Earth’s mightiest superheroes were laid about in all sorts of states and poses which made his head ache despite not being hungover.

As he lifted his hand to support his head, Steve realised he was wearing something. He took it off and found it was an Iron Man helmet, painted blue for some reason.

‘...............What in the world did I do last night?’

He didn’t want to know. He turned his head, saw Clint collapsed on the threshold of the glass door leading to the swimming pool, and decided he really, really didn’t want to know. Clint was naked apart from his boxers and boots for some reason. His shoulders were moving slightly which meant he was breathing and Steve felt a bit relieved.

He sat up.

Thor was sprawled in the middle of the room. Thankfully he wasn’t naked like Clint. It was slightly problematic that he was wearing a white dress, all frills and laces, but Steve tried very hard to think it was better than being naked.

Natasha was sleeping on the counter of the home bar in a relatively normal state with just her top off. Steve thought it might be uncomfortable to sleep on such a narrow and hard surface... but then again, the Black Widow won’t be affected by something as mundane as that; besides there were a pair of guns neatly laid out above her head even when she was slumbering in a deeply inebriated state which made him think it would be better to not approach her.

Amidst all this, Fury was sleeping on the sofa with his coat and boots off which meant either the director of SHIELD had higher alcohol tolerance than a super-soldier or Loki retained his last piece of sanity until the very end. Steve thought that was a small mercy and stood up to find Tony.

“Yikes!”

Something white bumped against his head, and Steve screamed, startled. He looked up and realised that it didn’t move towards him but he had hit his head on it as he stood up unaware that it was hanging above his head. Thinking that he himself wasn’t as together as he thought he was, Steve stared up at Peter’s sleeping face, who was snoozing in a hammock made of spider-web. It was good to see that he wasn’t unclothed, but he was drooling and it had been hanging down like a dewdrop. And below that, until a moment ago was.....

Steve hoped and hoped that he hadn’t been sleeping with his mouth open.

He didn’t wake anyone up with his screaming, which could either be a good thing or a bad thing. However, a low groaning noise came from the back of the bar so Steve headed that way, taking care not to step on Thor and Thor’s wedding dress and making a long detour to give wide berth to Natasha.

“Tony... isn’t here, I see.”

The one behind the bar was Bruce. He was still wearing the clothes from yesterday and was curled up around the fridge hugging it, so he looked very normal compared to others.

...There were remains of a broken watermelon which had been smashed into bits but Steve decided to ignore that. Bruce Banner was a mild-mannered good man with amazing self-control when he didn’t turn into the Hulk. He wouldn’t have done something he’d regret.

Maybe.

“I wonder where Tony is.”

-Ahem.

Steve looked up, surprised.

“JARVIS?”

-Yes. Mr Stark is collapsed in the corridor between the dining room and the stairs, Mr Rogers.

"Right, thanks... What about Coulson? And Loki?"

-Agent Coulson returned to New York in the early morning saying he had urgent matters to attend to.

“.....Is he even human?”

-It was around 2AM and everyone else was still alive then.

Steve repressed the urge to say ‘No one’s dead you know’. It was obvious that JARVIS was expecting just that kind of answer. He shouldn’t react in the way JARVIS wants him to and help him hone his sense of humour in the manner of Stark & Loki.

Steve left the living room. Indeed, Tony, who was for some obscure reason wearing Natasha’s top back to front and the Iron Man’s leg parts, was lying at the end of the corridor towards the staircase in a pose which only needed ‘It was XX...’ to perfect it.

“What about Loki?”

-He is in the dining room. However.......

“However?”

As Steve headed that way thinking he should take a glass of water or something, JARVIS informed him thus:

-Well, he isn’t alone.

********  
  
  


=========================================================================================

********  
  


Loki sighed, leaning on the wall for a moment.

Today’s ritual was harder than usual. The land, which had been without life energy for a long time, didn’t absorb the power too well even if they suddenly began to restore it.

When would this end?

He pulled himself up and began walking again.

It was a small mercy that all the frost giants hated him or couldn’t stand him or were against him. When the minimum work required of him is over, they would run him out even if he beg them to let him stay.

He thought mischievously that maybe he should beg and ask them to let him stay when the time of his departure draws close. After they feel the satisfaction of throwing him out against his will, they wouldn’t be able to do anything more even if they belated feel that his punishment had been too light.

Loki headed for his room, dragging his heavy legs which felt as if they were bound in shackles. He didn’t want to do anything or think of anything, but just pull a heavy blanket over himself and fall asleep. He opened the door.

“!”

The moment he stepped into his room someone grabbed his collar and threw him on the floor. Rubbing his hurt shoulder, Loki looked up. It was Geirrod.

‘Oh, shit. Of all people.’

“Why are you so late?! Making me come and wait for you, you impudent thing!”

Loki quickly bowed his head as Geirrod began shouting.

“I apologise. Today the restoration ritual took longer and....”

“Why does it always take longer when it’s my turn?”

A huge hand slapped his head. Loki knew from experience that nothing good came of his standing his ground, so he just let himself get flung across the room and collapse on the floor.

“Turn into a female already. I don’t want to see you any longer.”

Muttering that it is also the case with him, Loki transformed. The moment the transformation was complete, Geirrod held him and threw him to the bed; he then pulled Loki’s legs apart.

Loki quickly gritted his teeth. Pain, akin to his body being torn apart, and pressure began to penetrate him. Geirrod grabbed Loki’s hips tight, holding it wide apart, and roughly pushed himself in. Loki did not resist. There was no point, and besides, the quicker he conceived the quicker he could get out of this place.

Yet he did not wish to have this man’s child.

While Loki held himself still, Geirrod pushed himself in deeper and ejaculated. Even when it was over, he did not pull himself out. Loki tried to get his breath back thinking at least it was a good thing that it was over quickly. Geirrod finally pulled himself out and Loki turned and lay down on his back.

He slowly drifted into sleep, relieved that the hard day was finally truly over.

A sudden pulling of his leg, and he woke up. Geirrod, who he thought would go out since his business was done, was still looking down at him.

“Um, many couplings do not heighten the possibility of conception....”

He covered Loki’s mouth with his hand.

“Shut up,” Geirrod spat out. “You are all words. You entice people with your words and get them to let their guard down and taunt them with your words. In the first place,” the grip of his hand, which covered Loki’s jaw and throat, tightened. “Is it not madness to let something like you live, even conditionally?”

And he pushed Loki’s legs up, spread them apart, and once again pushed himself in.

“So don’t complain that I do not give you pleasure.”

Loki shook his head. It was terrible to couple more times than necessary with a partner, who was unpleasant even when they only did so at a minimum, against his will.

He wanted to kill this man if he could. Well, he could. Though his magical powers had depleted, it wasn’t so that he couldn’t kill this one man. He could tear this beast who was lusting his body as it pleases and skewer its head.

Yet if he did, he would lose the means to redeem himself.

Geirrod seemed satisfied that Loki had become submissive; again he finished his one-sided sex and got up from the bed.

“Don’t you ever reject me again.”

The door shut with a loud bang. After Geirrod went out, Loki used the corner of the blanket to wipe away his semen as much as he could. He then lay down on the bed again and curled up into a ball.

He felt wretched. He couldn’t understand why he was doing this. Wasn’t he a villain and a monster? Why was he bearing such degradation and pain, trying to find the road to redemption which could not exist?

“Fury.....”

Loki clutched the blanket. He told him he believed him. He said he believed him. A soundless cry burst out.

“Thor..”

He told him that he’d return. He would be waiting. He couldn’t break down like this, not like this. He must return to his teammates’ side, after he has completed this work.

Yet he couldn’t help the flowing tears. Telling himself that it was okay, that he was on his own and no one was watching him, Loki hugged the blanket and wept silently.

********  
  


On his throne Hlidskjalf, Odin hung his head and covered his eyes. He did not know which pained him more - that Loki was in pain all by himself, or that he was calling a name which was not his as he cried.

********  
  


======================================================================================

********  
  


Loki was the first one to awake; he looked around and smirked.

Steve, who said there was no point in him drinking, was spread out in a very strange pose. If Tony saw this, he would tease him saying yoga must be the way to stay young.

But Steve would wake up before Tony or Clint.

“JARVIS.”

-Sir.

“Record this in high definition.”

-Of course.

He was going to simply pass on, but the way Steve was bent backward and twisted seemed so uncomfortable; so Loki took the coffee table and moved it to one side. As the obstruction was removed, Steve sighed contentedly, changed his posture to a comfortable one, and continued to snore softly.

Loki shook his head as he left the living room.

“I don’t understand why they drink so, not knowing their limits.”

-Maybe because they didn’t have the excuse of postnatal care?

“...Your sense of humour has improved significantly while I was away, JARVIS.”

-Thank you for the compliment.

 _Well, he stayed with Tony all that time..._ muttering so, Loki stepped over Tony’s corpse in the middle of the corridor and headed for the dining room. He felt like having a glass of water or an orange juice. Afterwards, he would take some to the others. One of the glasses would have a lot of tabasco mixed in with the juice, of course.

Thinking _I will have to make a secret mark on that glass in case Fury gets it. I don’t want him getting it,_ Loki entered the kitchen.

And he froze on the spot.

“It has been a while, Loki.”

There was someone already in the dining room.

“Fa.......... Odin.”

For a split second, Loki didn’t know what to do. Should he run? Should he fight? Should he call for his friends?

Loki did not think himself a criminal. At least he wasn’t anymore. He was completely honourable in front of Fury and the Avengers at least, and no one else mattered since they were all that mattered to him. But what about Odin? Even if Thor had forgiven him, it didn’t mean Odin would automatically forgive him also. Odin could still pull out a charge that could have him dismembered for his crimes if he were inclined to do so.

“Loki, how long will you stand so?”

Loki took a step back at Odin’s words.

“Wait a moment. I will fetch Thor instantly,” said Loki, trying hard not to bow his head reflexively. Fury had stood against Odin with his head held high. He had to follow that example, and not the etiquette of an Asgardian courtier.

“No. The son I had come to see today is not Thor but you, Loki.”

Loki, who had just turned, stopped in his tracks.

“There must be a misunderstanding,” he spoke slowly. “I am a Midgardian named Loki Nickson. I am not someone the king of Asgard would come to meet himself.”

“Loki.”

Loki turned to go, ignoring Odin’s call. His feet stuck to the floor, unmoving.

“Let me go.”

“Loki, you are my son.”

“No,” Loki denied it at once.

“I took you, an abandoned one, and fed you and protected you and taught you and brought you up. Yet you say you aren’t my son? These.....” Odin spread his arms and made a sweeping gesture. “Few words of praise from these mortals are more important to you than the years we had spent together, numbering nearly a thousand?”

“Oh, yes. Of course!” Loki shouted. “Nearly a thousand years worth of lie and jealousy and despair, all those nights of secret tears full of tormenting thoughts wondering what did I do wrong to be born like this, not being like others, always ignored and never approved of and ever receiving hate and scorn - of course the words of praise and encouragement, telling me that I have done well and that they are proud of me are much more, hundred times more precious than that!”

Loki bit his lip. He did not want to burst out like this. He knew only he himself would feel miserable the more he did so.

It was himself who couldn’t adapt to Asgard. Therefore he had layered delusion and misunderstanding upon each other and in the end committed an irretrievable act. That was all. Nothing would change now by blaming someone or figuring out whose fault it is.

“It is not that I refute my sins,” said Loki. “It would be proper to receive due punishment in Asgard as I did in Jotunheim. Sure. What punishment would you bestow? I have led the enemy into the innermost place of the palace and incited Thor so he would wage war against Jotunheim; I planned his exile and overtook the throne and tried to kill him and attacked Heimdall; I once again led the enemy into the palace and instigated them to kill the king and made a second attempt at Thor’s life and destroyed the Bifrost. What else is there?”

Loki turned towards Odin.

“Oh yes, the Casket of Ancient Winters. I stole the precious treasure and gave it to the enemy to trade it for my own safety. Yes, it seems like there is no possibility of acquittal for me. So what will do with me?”

“Is that all you have to say?” asked Odin. “You do not wish to have your say, to defend yourself at all?”

Loki was silent.

“Loki.”

“I do not think anything will change by my making excuses,” he replied softly.

“Still say them at least. You will not fear the consequences since nothing will change.”

Loki looked at Odin with eyes full of distrust, once, then looked down again.

“It is indeed my fault that I let the Jotuns enter the vault. But what else could I do instead? Even you will admit that Thor was not fit for the throne then. However, if I had voiced that thought, I would have been derided as being jealous of my brother’s glory and spreading a vicious rumour due to that. I could not see Asgard, my home, plunge into the war. And to stop the coronation I could only bring in the Jotuns.”

“Loki.”

“As to the invasion of Jotunheim... I had tried to stop him. I told him it was madness. But when did Thor ever listen to me? He asked his friends to join him, yet he didn’t even feel the need to persuade me, who had been against him.”

Loki hesitated for a moment. Should he continue with these meaningless excuses? Wouldn’t it be more ‘warrior-like’ to shut his mouth and bear his punishment? But he no longer needed to care about acting like a warrior or a prince, and care about how Odin thought of him. Then why not be honest and tell him what he truly thought, at least for one final time?

“After you had collapsed in the vault, I ascended the throne ‘legitimately’. However those so-called friends of Thor decided by themselves that exiled Thor should be on the throne and demanded that I reverse your order; and when I refused, they went down to Midgard of their own accord and planned to bring Thor back. They had blatantly disregarded your order, not mine, and it was clearly a treason. Was it not? But did you punish them? Why not? How come? For they had good intentions? For the end result was good? I also formed a connection with the Jotuns with good intentions and achieved a good end result. No one would be able to deny that Thor had become a much better person than before. So tell me, tell me why only I should be the betrayer and be punished!”

Perceiving the frozen expression on Odin’s face, Loki closed his eyes and swallowed down his resignation. Dragging others down with him will not make it better. They were Thor’s good-hearted friends and he was Loki.

“I am not saying this to avoid my punishment. So please announce my sentence. Be it hard labour or execution, I will bear it. But....... couldn’t you wait for thirty years? My current teammates are humans and I can only be with them for a short while. They have done no wrong. No, rather they have done a great service as they fought against me for a long time and made me give up my evil ways. So do not punish them too, please.”

It was more degrading to plead with Odin than with the frost giants. But he had already endured such degradation in order to stay with his teammates, his friends. There was no reason to not bear it a little bit more.

But he was also Loki, and he couldn’t simply endure it without paying a little back.

“Please, father,” Loki looked up and set his tear-filled eyes on Odin. “If you have considered me a son for at least a moment, if you had thought the babe lovely when you picked him up and embraced him at least a little, please accept my plea. Let me enjoy a brief happiness that I earned while exiled in this faraway land. If you would only allow me this, even if I survive my punishment I will not trouble Asgard at all. I will not even go near Asgard and claim no right or association, and I will not even mention it, so...”

‘Not that I’d go, even if they call me,’ he muttered bitterly to himself.

Would this hurt Odin at least a bit? Loki hoped that it did; that he would feel regret and pain for bringing him up, that he had picked that baby up.

He loathed Odin. He resented him for taking him in and letting him live, and for not giving him away to someone else but bringing him up as his own son. He was angry that he had made him compete with Thor when he didn’t even think to give him a fair chance. He hated him for making him his son but not giving him love and approval befitting that position.

But now Loki wished that Odin had at least some fatherly affection for him, so that he may feel pained at this failure.

That way, he could draw out a decision that would be advantageous to him.

Fury had praised him for his efforts to come back alive. Yes, a warrior-like attitude was not necessary anymore. The father he should try to please was not Odin.

“You misunderstand,” said Odin, after a long while. Loki nearly burst out into laughter.

Misunderstanding, misunderstanding. How much of this twisted relationship which even Loki couldn’t comprehend was misunderstanding, really?

“I am not here to punish you.”

“Then?” Loki shot back at once. “What else do we have between us, no, what other... purpose do you have for me?”

Odin hesitated.

“Loki, do you... do you wish to cut your ties with Asgard entirely? Are you more happy here?”

“Yes. Absolutely,” Loki promptly replied.

“.........I see.”

Odin turned away. Loki tensed, wondering what he’d do, and gave his full attention to Odin.

“Don’t do anything stupid and stop right there.”

Loki quickly turned to look behind him. Nick Fury was standing at the dining room door.

Odin stopped in his tracks.

“Nicholas Fury.”

“Long time no see, your highness,” Fury paid his respect with a not-at-all respectful attitude. “Asgard must be peaceful indeed; I’m only in charge of a handful of the affairs in this place, but when I leave for a short while there is a constant stream of messages so usually I don’t even get a proper night’s sleep. Must be thanks to your majesty taking care of everything so well on ordinary days.”

Odin clenched his hands into fists.

“Fury, do you find that stealing my son is not enough for you that you now attempt to insult me?”

“Steal him?” Fury feigned surprise. “I never took anything from Asgard. Loki, and Thor, was just what I picked up when you threw them away.”

Behind Fury, Thor was standing in the corridor just outside the dining room door, still in his wedding dress; he opened his mouth to say something but Clint nudged him and shut him up.

“So you listen to me. Just because you can come as you please does not mean you can go as you please. If you’re going to leave, at least go away after you’ve told Loki what you wanted to tell him when you meet him.”

Odin glared at Fury. Fury didn’t even blink and stared at Odin.

“Fine,” Odin turned towards Loki. “Loki.”

Loki gritted his teeth and straightened himself. He tried to steel himself so he won’t be affected by whatever insult or curse that’d come his way.

“I saw you in Jotunheim.”

Loki flinched, despite his resolve.

“I saw you restoring Jotunheim with the power of the Casket of Ancient Winters, and also....”

Loki spat out:

“Spreading my legs as a woman.”

He thought he’d say the painful words before it got spoken, but it did not lessen the pain.

“I was not going to say that.”

“Then what was it? Surely you don’t think that’s an honourable act?”

Odin pulled back as if he was shocked, then he hung his head. After hesitating for a long time, he finally opened his mouth again.

“I only wanted to say that your safe return gladdens my heart.”

Loki’s eyes widened.

“What, what did you say?”

“You paid for your sins, and though the method may not be boast-worthy in its nature..... you did what was brave and right.”

Loki’s mouth hung open as he stared at Odin.

“You whispered Fury’s and Thor’s name when it was too painful for you. I know that you do not consider me your father anymore. Yet.....” Odin looked up. A determination flashed across his eyes. “You are my son, and I love you.”

Loki staggered. Fury was still blocking the door so none of the Avengers could get through to support him in time, and meanwhile he sat down, or rather fell down on the dining chair close by.

“Loki.”

“I did not think you would say something like that,” Loki whispered. “After all this time.... now, after all this time.............”

Fury made a move at that very moment. He approached Loki and put a hand on his shoulder.

“Why don’t you think it through slowly?”

“Huh?”

“You must be feeling pretty confused. Not sure how to take it and what to say at all.”

Loki nodded.

Fury turned towards Odin.

“If you don’t want to give up, why don’t you come back sometime next month or so? Surely you didn’t think getting back a son you lost would be easy. It took me six months just to ‘pick him up’ and it took a long time afterwards for him to be really honest with me.”

Odin looked at Loki, then at Fury, and nodded.

“When it is your first time to hold a blade, you should put it down before dropping it.”

It sounded like an Asgardian proverb, but they could understand what it meant. Fury nodded.

“Then we will see you after four weeks.”

Odin disappeared. All the Avengers poured into the dining room.

“Loki!” Thor was the first one to fling himself at Loki; he hugged him tightly. Loki had to hold onto the table with all his might in order to not crash into the floor with the chair. “It is wonderful, to reconcile with father too, it is indeed wonderf......”

“Let me breathe! And we did not reconcile yet!”

Thor looked like a kicked puppy. Loki repressed the sigh rising up within him.

“There is the possibility of it. Yes, it may be possible in the future.”

Thor’s face turned bright again. Loki had to try hard to ignore glowing Thor and stood up; he beckoned Tony with his hand.

“Me?”

“Yes, you.”

“Huh, what did I do...... argh!” Tony backtracked instead of coming closer. Loki ran to get him and swept his legs from under him.

His ankles were protected by the armour, but the back of his head which hit the floor when he fell was not. Tony hugged his head.

“Owww.....”

Loki looked down at him, smiling a very bright smile.

“Tony Stark, you dare provide a cheat sheet to Odin?”

Tony’s shoulders shook as he winced.

“You knew?” asked Steve.

“I do not have eyes on the back of my head but if I was completely oblivious to what goes on behind my back I wouldn’t be alive now. Also the hologram display makes a small buzzing noise when it gets turned on.”

“Sorry, but it was so frustrating I couldn’t just sit by and watch,” Tony made a gesture of supplication. “Besides, these so-called fathers never know what their sons want to hear and what they should say at all.”

“Is that an advice from your own experience?”

“Something like that,” Tony tried to stand up, seeing that Loki didn’t look like he was inclined to kick him again, but decided to get his leg armours off first as they were heavy.

“But didn’t you act quite naturally considering you knew of this?” asked Clint. Loki shrugged.

“Like I said, I did not even imagine he would say something like that. ...And he is not one to say such words just because someone teaches him the words.”

“Yes, if he didn’t feel that way, he wouldn’t have said it just because someone writes ‘Just tell him you’re happy to see him back safe and you love him and you are sorry and give him a hug and cry you stupid old man’ and shows it to him,” Natasha supplied. Loki burst out laughing.

“Stupid old man?! Really, Tony Stark, calling Odin a... calling Odin a stupid old man...” He wiped tears from his eyes. “You really are the human I like the second best.”

“Who’s the first?” asked Tony.

“Fury, of course.”

“What about me!” Thor shouted, grieved.

“You aren’t a human.”

Thor deflated. Loki gave him a pat.

“Don’t worry, I like you the most among the Aesir.”

Thor revived again. Clint whispered to Natasha.

“Is there another Asgardian Loki can even remotely like apart from Thor?”

“........Well, if it’s remotely, their mother maybe?”

“Actually, I can’t believe he meant what he said even now,” said Loki, gazing at the far sky. “Yet..... even if it was a lie, I thought it had the possibility to become a truth at some point in the future.”

“That will be enough for now,” said Fury. “You have plenty of time ahead.”

********  
  


 

**Author's Note:**

> I began writing it thinking Loki needs to reconcile with Odin to become happy, but then my ‘Odin you bastard’ syndrome kicked in again so I abandoned it, then I began writing it again with a different direction thinking at least I’ll give Odin a lengthy and thorough talking to, then I rewrote it again thinking there should at least be a possibility of reconciliation for Loki’s happiness.  
> Among the fics I wrote, this must be the one I changed the ending the most.....
> 
>  
> 
> (In Korea, ' See you after four weeks' is cliche phrase for divorce mediation)


End file.
